Fluid Thinking. Innovative Solutions™

Coast Southwest is a leading full-service, chemical distribution and ingredient technology company. From six strategic locations, we serve manufacturers and formulators for personal care and household products throughout the United States with high-quality functional ingredients, on-time deliveries, and exceptional customer service.

Discover Coast Southwest

Coast Southwest was incorporated in 1985 in Placentia, CA as a regional distributor. Today the company serves customers across the U.S. and has expanded operations to six locations, including an innovation center for research and development in Arlington, TX.

Coast Southwest sponsors the California YBTC! Program, which enhances K-8 science education by introducing the science of chemistry as it relates to our everyday lives. The capstone of the program is the annual California YBTC Challenge.

We provide a wide range of preservative systems and solutions, from classic preservation to contemporary and custom solutions, specifically designed and refined to meet the ever-changing needs of today’s personal care market.

Oleochemicals

We offer a vast array of basic oleochemical products from the foremost producers around the world.

Coast Southwest provides sample formulas that chemists can use to develop a variety of applications, from leading- edge products that use the latest in ingredients and technologies to economy products for the mass market.

And while the growing consumer appetite for green, natural cosmetic products provides incredible opportunities for formulators, that increasingly important “natural” claim also presents unique challenges. Perhaps the most pressing of these? How to create safe, effective, and pleasing cosmetic products – without the use of traditional ingredients like synthetic polymers.

The importance of polymers

Polymers are substances used in a wide variety of haircare, skincare, and suncare products as emulsifiers, thickeners, film-formers, and protective barriers. Beyond their functionality, consumers also relish polymers in their products for the pleasing textures and tactile sensations polymers can provide: smoothness, creaminess, and thickness, to name a few.

Although synthetic polymers have long played a vital role in personal care products, consumers increasingly want to see bio-based, biodegradable polymers in their cosmetic products. Luckily for formulators, an ingredient like the innovative, bio-based Glossamer™ L-6600 polymer is a perfect solution to this modern “Formulator’s Dilemma.”

REACH compliant, and awarded with a listing by the Natural Products Association (the largest and oldest nonprofit representing the interests of manufacturers and retailers within the natural products industry), Glossamer™ L-6600 is quite likely the bio-based polymer of the future – and of natural product formulations.

A polymer for clean, natural beauty products

A botanically derived polymer like Glossamer™L6600 can be incorporated into a universe of products in need of thickening, emulsifying, or film-forming, like:

Superior moisture retention

In a test between 2% Glossamer™ L-6600 and 2% Lanolin Oil Results, Glossamer™ L-6600 showed a 40% reduction in TEWL versus Lanolin Oil at 28%, two hours after application. Even more exciting? After six hours, Glossamer™ L-6600 continued to show stronger results of lower water losses at 21% versus the Lanolin Oil Results 12%.

For formulators seeking out a natural polymer for moisturizing products ranging from ethnic haircare conditioners to creamy body washes, Glossamer™ L-6600 is the natural fit for these innovative formulations.

During tests, after initial application, Glossamer™ L-6600 showed an amazing 35% increase in skin moisturization versus the leading brand. And after three hours, Glossamer™ L-6600 showed 17% stronger moisturization versus the leading brand – a more than impressive result, and one that’s bound to be noticed by discriminating consumers.

Another step forward in bio-based formulation

The clean and natural beauty boom presents an incredible window of opportunity for formulators. Those who have been able to seize on it are riding a sales boom that shows no sign of slowing down, as consumer preferences continue to put “natural” and green-themed products firmly out in front of other brands.